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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26750665">as the world passes by</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/benditlikepress/pseuds/benditlikepress'>benditlikepress</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, they're mature but not grown up, tivatober2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:08:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26750665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/benditlikepress/pseuds/benditlikepress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Ziva's car breaks down on the way to pick up Tali from school.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>as the world passes by</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for day 1 of indestinatus' tivatober prompt series! the prompt was 'crisp air'<br/>title is from hurricanes by dido</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I promise we'll be there fast as we can. Uh-huh. We can still have ice-cream. Yeah, even though its cold. I'll have to ask your mom about that, alright? Let me get back to you." Tony looked at Ziva with a smirk. "Alright, see you soon, sweetheart. Love you."</p><p>He hung up the phone and passed it back to Ziva. She felt the cold of his hands as they touched hers, the chilly wind in the air settling into their skin.</p><p>"She wants two ice-creams now for her hardships."</p><p>"I cannot believe she waited until I passed the phone to you to ask."</p><p>"She's good at reading people, huh?"</p><p>"I have no idea where she puts it all. She is certainly her father's daughter."</p><p>The words made Tony’s eyes glow as he glanced between Ziva and the road in front of them. "How do we suddenly have a kid old enough to manipulate us into getting her own way?"</p><p>It was something Ziva thought herself most days now – time appearing to speed up rather than slow down as Tali got older. She supposed when you’d missed as much time as she had, every milestone seemed to come thick and fast to make up for it. She understood, now, why parents were always so concerned with the idea that their children got big so fast.</p><p>“Why anyone would want ice-cream in this weather is beyond me.”</p><p>Tony nodded in agreement, rubbing his hands up his arms. Not exactly dressed for cold weather, he had on half a suit from work. Trousers and a shirt with a grey pullover on top – one that made Ziva smile in its continued presence after she'd mentioned once that she liked him in it.</p><p>The wind in the air seemed to be getting crisper, and Ziva felt it catching the tips of her ears. They lived outside the city now, and journeys to collect Tali from school involved roads much quieter than either of them had been used to. Of course, when your car broke down, that was far from ideal.</p><p>"Is this place much further? I've been on my feet all day, my knee's gonna explode."</p><p>"We are nearly there, I believe." Ziva looked with concern as he winced and shook out his leg. "I told you it would be fine to wait in the car."</p><p>"Thought you might like the company."</p><p>Ziva smiled at the easy sincerity. "You know I would never turn that down."</p><p>"Besides, we never walk anywhere together."</p><p>"Because you hate walking."</p><p>"That's not true. That's like hating.. breathing. It's a defunct method of transport, though. Slow. You can't carry anything."</p><p>"Well, you know what is to blame, Tony. I have been telling you about that dashboard light for days."</p><p>"The light is still blinking away. It's the engine that's stopped working."</p><p>The joke was told with a faked irritation that made Ziva laugh, swaying a little into his arm. She felt him shiver and tucked her hand through it, rubbing the bare skin where his jumper had ridden up.</p><p>"Cold?"</p><p>"You aren't?"</p><p>"I have a jacket. And a scarf. Would you like it?"</p><p>Tony looked at the red and pink tassels of Tali's short scarf that Ziva had grabbed as she left the house. "I have a reputation to protect."</p><p>"Suit yourself."</p><p>He huffed and unwrapped the scarf from her neck, tying it haphazardly around his own so the ends of the tiny scarf barely reached together. Ziva stepped in front of him to stop him in his tracks and undid it, tying it again a little more carefully. She patted the ends down against his jumper and kissed him as a finish before turning back to walk alongside him up the road.</p><p>"Did you really leave the house without your jacket, phone or wallet?"</p><p>“I’m now realising I put too much trust in that car.”</p><p>“Never rely on anything? That is your lesson from this experience?”</p><p>“Machines. Machines let you down, Ziva. All this technology – you know you can get text messages on watches now? Maybe I should get one of those.”</p><p>“Until your watch stops working, yes?”</p><p>“Exactly. Whatever happened to talking to people? Real people.”</p><p>Ziva could remember him having this argument with McGee countless times in the past, never quite understanding the benefits of living a life online.</p><p>“You sound like an old man sometimes, Tony.”</p><p>"You just ask Tali who's the best at Animal Hospital."</p><p>"That is a dad thing, Tony. That does not help your case."</p><p>"You're forgetting all the hours I spent playing games online with Jimmy while you were gone. You'd be surprised, Miss David, about my hidden depths." He batted his shoulder against her arm, his tone lowering. Ziva raked her eyes down his face instinctively.</p><p>"I am fairly certain you did that to avoid awkward questions."</p><p>"Maybe," he drew the word out, "but don't think I didn't learn a thing or two. I'd kick your ass, that's for sure."</p><p>"I have never understood the value of pretending to shoot someone on a computer screen."</p><p>"You're one to judge, huh, you've always been a technophobe. Then, I don't know what else to expect from a woman who's favourite films all involve musical numbers."</p><p>"So what? It seems it is possible anymore to make a film without a musical number."</p><p>"Now who sounds old?"</p><p>“Not <em>old</em>, then. Mature.”</p><p>"Are you saying I'm not<em> fun</em> anymore?"</p><p>"I did not say anything remotely similar to that."</p><p>"Right. Good. Because those sound like fighting words."</p><p>"Really? And how would that be?"</p><p>Tony squinted to the top of the hill. "I'll race you to the garage."</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous, Tony."</p><p>"See? What I thought."</p><p>“What – because I will not race you in the street, I am old?”</p><p>“No, because you won’t race me in the street, you’re not fun.”</p><p>Ziva shook her head in amusement at the twinkle in his eye and wide grin on his face. "What about your knee?"</p><p>"I've survived worse. You're always telling me regular exercise will help."</p><p>"Well, either way I am not carrying you back to the car afterwards."</p><p>Tony had stopped walking, and placed one of his feet in line with a paving slab. Ziva looked up at his face in disbelief.</p><p>"You are serious?"</p><p>"I’m hoping if we go fast I’ll warm up. Any longer out here and I won't be able to feel my feet."</p><p>"Your exaggeration is certainly one thing you have not lost over the years."</p><p>Ziva continued to stare at his stationary position until he suddenly tipped his head and nodded with a smirk. “Ah. I get it.”</p><p>“Get what?”</p><p>“You’re worried I’m gonna embarrass you.” He tutted in understanding, making Ziva roll her eyes. “I understand – it’s been a long time since we’ve done real exercise together, you’re nervous I might be better than you remember.”</p><p>The smug smirk on Tony’s face flooded Ziva with nostalgia. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him like that – so boyishly arrogant and joking, always having the tendency to make him look much younger than he was. She zipped up her coat fiercely and his smirk turned to a full smile.</p><p>“I was taking pity, actually. But if you are so sure then let’s go on the count of three.”</p><p>"Oh," Tony's face suddenly got sheepish, "uh, yeah, alright. Count of three."</p><p>"Don't say you are roostering out now, Tony."</p><p>She'd got the idiom wrong on purpose, enjoying the way his eyes lit up before he went to correct her. He didn't, though, rather re-settling his foot on the edge of the paving slab and battling with her as she tried to push his away to put her own down.</p><p>Ziva knew they'd been guilty sometimes during bad patches of not having enough fun when they were alone - too wrapped up in anxieties and frank discussions and sorting out the mess of the last six years. When things were good like they were now, she often made the conscious decision to try harder to encourage it. The childlike look Tony's face was one she desperately wanted to see more of.</p><p>Plus, though she wouldn't admit it to him, she was starting to feel the cold too.</p><p>“Three. Two. ONE!” Tony shouted the final word as he began to run before he’d even finished, zig-zagging up the road as he tried to block Ziva’s path.</p>
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